


Wearing Our Vintage Misery

by V0idNecr0mancer



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Angst, NHO, The End, Watchers, and i write this, and then i become a beef simp, basically me going, elderitch, hey look it isnt grian watcher, idk how to tag, mafia, new hermit order, this hermit doesnt have enough lore for my tastes, watcher beef, what a concept
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:48:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26183680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/V0idNecr0mancer/pseuds/V0idNecr0mancer
Summary: Beef was always a man of mystery to the hermits. He always kept a certain distance to all of them, even those who had been part of the nHo with him. He sometimes asked strange questions or seemed a little too interested in seemingly useless things... but why was he like this?
Comments: 10
Kudos: 76





	Wearing Our Vintage Misery

Beef was a butcher, and that was that. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Everyone thought he was just the nice friendly local meat supplier. Light blue eyes, dark black hair and a small growing beard. He was young, and yet he already towered over most people. With a brilliant smile he could charm most of his customers. Keyword being most.

“Hit him again” the rough voice ordered, snapping Beef out of his thoughts. He nodded, complying and punching down on the tied up man in the chair. The victim wheezed, blood pouring from his split lip and bitten tongue.

This was one of Beef’s ‘customers’. The man had taken money from the family and now had to pay the price. The Father, the one who had spoken, smiled as he held up a hefty cigar. He blew out a smoky breath, approaching the money launderer. The cigar was pressed down on the man’s arm, burning through the flesh. The chair-bound man screamed in agony. Beef didn’t blink an eye.

After all, that was just how the system worked.

———————————

It was a strange day when his world had gotten destroyed. He’d simply been working at his shop, using the various machines to cut up meat and create a buzzing that would cover up the sounds of… information extraction in the back room. He was going about making the front hold up when a frantic lady came into the butchery.

“The sky, the sky, it’s covered in darkness! I can’t see!” She cried, covering her eyes. Beef frowned, pausing the machines for a second. He cautiously pressed a button under the counter to send a signal to those in the back to stay quiet. No sounds came from the back room, releasing some of the tense worry he had that any of the business’ less than legal activities would be heard.

“What do ya mean, lady? What are ya talkin’ about?” He asked, going around the counter of his shop. He put a hand on the lady’s arm to lead her to a seat only for her to growl.

“Don’t. Touch me.” She spat out venomously, hands uncovering her eyes and shooting out to grip Beef’s arm. He tried to pull back, shocked, only for the woman to dig her nails into his skin and prompting small trails of red to start running down his arm. Her eyes were engulfed in black, the depths of void and cosmos clashing into a senseless insanity. She laughed, high and pitched, reminiscent of nails being dragged on a school chalkboard.

“The sky’s gone dark! There’s no escape!” She let out, before seemingly choking on something. She let go of Beef, keeling over. Paralyzed, the stunned butcher could only watch as the woman threw up black ichor before completely collapsing. For a few moments he stood there, frozen. Only once the shock started to wear off did he shakily crouch down to put a hand to the woman’s neck, looking for any signs of life. There was no pulse. His breath hitched and he pulled away, staring at the corpse in front of him. What had happened to this lady…?

He looked out of the front windows trying to see if anyone had noticed the insanity-ridden woman’s death. Outside, people were staring at the sky with what seemed like awe, before suddenly clutching their heads. He could see all their mouths open in a silent yell, the storefront’s soundproofing strong enough to ward off the noise. Gulping, Beef looked away as a child started to scream.

He felt sick and yet he was morbidly fascinated. Why were people turning mad with but a glance at the sky. He looked out the window once more. He couldn’t see the sky from inside, he’d have to go out there… Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Well, wasn’t that his life already? He tensed, working himself up to walk out the door and look at the sky. After all, what did he really have to lose? He had no family or friends he truly cared for and in his line of work he’d most likely die sooner than later anyways. Resolved, he opened the door and stepped out.

The screams were much louder than he thought. While the interior of the shop had beenquiet and still in the wake of death, out here there was loud, crying agony. People ran in the streets maddened. Others fell where they stood, dark oblivion claiming them instantly. Bodies littered the ground as the stench of rot made itself known even if it was much too early for the door to start. Beef looked up.

With a shocked gasp, he took a few steps back. The normal blue sky was gone, replaced by the throes of madness. The heavens had been replaced by a dark expanse of shifting matter and cosmos, with the now sickly stars shining weakly before being rapidly extinguished. The universe roiled in on itself as it imprinted on the watching souls. It watched back. Eyes of all sizes and colours looked down from the sky, piercing in their maddening intensity. Beef could feel his thoughts uncoil, his sheer self start to unwind… but he refused. He clung onto his sanity and his thoughts with a dogged focus, awed stare turning into a frowning glare. He didn’t come out here to die like a sheep.

As the screams of his people rang out around him, the eyes in the darkened firmament started moving. Gradually, they all turned to stare at him. He stayed still, uninterrupted in this battle of wills as those around him perished until everything was silent.

———————————

That’s when they took him to a land of nothing. Yellow islands amidst a sea of blinking stars. Pillars of unbreakable rock crowned with floating crystals of unimaginable power. “the End” they called it. Beef thought it was fitting.

Those that had taken had pushed upon him foreign magic into his veins to make him powerful and superior. What a load of bullshit. Still, he kept quiet as the magic tore his limbs apart and his eyes burned with the light of dying stars being harnessed into power. He kept silent as wings grew on his aching back and he was forced to learn to use the new muscles that came with them. Deep dark blue with the patterns of constellations shifting between the feathers. Like a fallen angel, he mused.

He started out at the bottom of the social ladder. The newest member of the pack. The one who didn’t back down against the insanity loving beings that had destroyed his world. “That’s the only reason we spared you” they told him. He was inclined to believe them, seeing the sheer power they wielded as if it was nothing. They taught him to use that same power as well, eventually.

He didn’t know how long had passed since he’d been taken. It could have been weeks. It could have been centuries. All he knew was that he had been here a while, locked in a constant cycle of fighting for his survival. After all, things were the same here as they’d been with the mafia and he knew the system inside and out. Maybe that’s why he’d lasted so long? The instinctive knowledge of who is superior and who can easily be usurped. The drive not to lash out lest he get in trouble bigger than he can deal with. Or perhaps it was just luck? He didn’t know and he didn’t care, because this dog eat dog environment was one he’d learned to navigate since young and he excelled at it.

Eventually, the training of his magic abilities was finished and Beef was sent on an assignment by his superiors. He was to watch over a world and its inhabitants. He breathed in the air of the Overworld as he sat on a village home’s roof, not so used to the much thicker air anymore. He could taste the sun on his skin again. He smiled.

He stayed in that world for a long time and watched as civilizations rose and fell until there was simply nothing. That’s when he was taken back by those who had given him the role of guardian. They sent him elsewhere, and the cycle began again. For uncounted millennia, he watched over innumerable worlds. Sometimes he was but a quiet shadow in the background, other times he interacted with the denizens of these realms. Every time he had to watch as everything died away with the laws of entropy.

That is, until one day he was given a different assignment. He was to retrieve an escapee of the beings who’d taken him. Someone who was able to flee and successfully get away. The envy he felt for this person made the task all the better. Why did they have to be the one to get away? We couldn’t Beef have been the one to leave? Anger flooded through his being as hate grew for this person he didn’t even know. Someone who had been just like him, yet better. Someone who’d been able to run when he could not. His hands curled into fists and the current of magic crackled in his veins. He’d make them pay, at any cost.

——————————

The name of the world Beef’s target had hidden in was Hermitcraft. As Beef watched the inhabitants go about their daily lives in the shopping district, he found that his task was going to be harder than it first seemed. His superiors hadn’t given him a description of the one he was to retrieve and there were too many possibilities of who it could be. The runaway could be the admin who reeked of the void. It could be the old miner with the strangely blue eyes. They could even be that scarred albino who seemed to think he was a ninja of some sort.

Beef sighed, considering his options. He stood from his perch on the orange cliff of the Badlands and stretched out his wings before initiating plan B. The feathered appendages faded away into wisps of smoke as the magic quietly folded onto itself. The purple hue of his eyes shifted to a dark blue reminiscent of the night sky as the void-like tinge his skin had gotten receded. He looked… normal. He idly wondered how long it had been since he’d seen his tanned skin like this. His hands trembled as he stared at them.

He shook his head, clutching his hands into fists. Now as not the time for idle reminiscence. He had a job to do. With that, he wiped away his tears and walked off. As he approached the shopping district he took off his mask-like visor. The symbol of a broken portal gleaming dimly in the moonlight as the watcher hid the apparel in the bag he was carrying.

——————————

He’d been accepted by the Hermits rather quickly. They’d been a little surprised when he’d shown up in the shopping district with no warning asking for refuge, but it seemed that it was a common occurrence that new-comers came from nowhere. He’d been shown around the world by the one named Iskall in a tour of the districts scattered about. Beef had been pretty impressed by the end of it.

He decided to settle a little bit away from one of these districts. Plans of a sci-fi inspired base already underway in his mind. If he was to find the one who’d escaped, he had to blend in. Over the next few months he built his base and by the end of it, he’d already befriended most of the Hermits.

To his endless frustration, he still couldn’t discern which of the Hermits was the one he was looking for. They were all too eccentric, too diverse for him to pinpoint any clue that might lead him to his target. He remembered when it was easy to find someone in a much larger population than this sparsely populated world. He was sorely out of practice with social cues and small talk. He saw the strange looks the others gave him as he tried to recover from a blunder with a laugh and smile. He hated being out of the loop about this, especially that he used to be so good at this type of information gathering…

Still, now was not the time to think these things. The admin, Xisuma, had called a meeting of the Hermits. Talking amongst themselves, they spoke of the previously announced move to another world. Beef watched with apprehension. How would the move happen? What type of magic would be at play? Would it reveal his own magic? Anxiously, he clenched his hands into fists, nails digging into his palm at the prospect of his true identity coming to light.

“Hey there, you’re looking kinda pale there Beefers” a concerned voice spoke next to him, startling Beef from his spiralling thoughts. Beef turned to stare at Etho before gathering his wits enough to answer.

“I’m fine, it’s just, first time, yeah?” He awkwardly replied, shrugging and trying not to seem as affected as he was. Etho raised a sceptical eyebrow. Drats.

“If you want you can hold onto me while we go through. I know it helps with the teleportation and everything…” Etho casually offered, a hand put out for Beef to take if he so wished. Beef sighed and took the offer, muttering a quiet thanks under his breath. Etho’s eyes smiled at him, the mask hiding the mouth surely quirked up into a reassuring grin.

“No problem. Us Hermits help each other out, yaknow?”

———————————

The move to the next world was strange and nothing Beef was used to. It was turbulent, with overwhelming colours flashing in front of his eyes. He’d held onto Etho the whole time until they were out on the other side and even then he didn’t let go. The albino took pity on him and help him sit down somewhere away from the others. That’s when one of the other hermits approached the two.

“Hey there! I’m Bdubs! Are you ok there, ya seem pretty out of it!” The voice rang out, making Beer wince slightly. He looked up at whoever had spoken. Before him stood a rather short man with a red bandana, a deeply tanned and calloused hand outstretched for Beef to shake. Beef stared at the hand for a minute before taking it.

“I’m uh, Beef…” he replied as they shook hands, scrambled thoughts becoming numb as walls started rising. His usual charming smile drifted onto his face, a facade of normality brought up to hide his inner unbalance and discomfort. He forced himself to his feet, brushing off Etho’s help with a grin. He was fine. He had to be if he was to continue his mission. While the last world had been unfruitful in his search, surely this one would be better? Right?

Perhaps he could make an alliance of some sort with some of the hermits… Well, he might as well, seeing as he was currently with two of them in a rather close moment. Ignoring the uncomfortable prickles on his skin from his slight nervousness, he spoke up.

“How would you guys like to start an alliance?”

——————————

Months later and he and the other nHo were living in a jungle away from the other hermits. While Etho and Bdubs spouted drivel about ‘real survival’, Beef was conducting research. Background checks were run on the various members of the Hermitcraft group, only to come back inconclusive. Either it was memory loss or people simply not wanting to talk of their past experiences, it frustrated him to no end. This should’ve been an easy task, and yet he was getting set back more and more by the various mysteries surrounding the hermits. On top of that, he couldn’t ask questions too often lest the others become suspicious of him. At the rate his search was going, it was going to take forever…

He sighed, thoughts rolling in his head as he stared into the lake in front of him. He was seated on the edge of the small beach adjoining the body of water, needing to clear his head away from the others. It was night time, stars twinkling above him like gems. He looked over at their reflections in the water before shuddering and averting his gaze. He barely remembered when he used to look at the stars with reverence, as beautiful things to be admired. They didn’t look so beautiful anymore.

Beef closed his eyes, blocking the celestial bodies from his view. Behind him, he heard the sounds of Etho and Bdubs chatting and laughing as well as the crackle of a fire. He had to admit, he’s gotten rather close to the two in the trio’s self-imposed isolation. Bdubs had quickly shown a temper and a passion unmatched by the other hermits, while Etho was always relaxed and calm, the chill anchor of the group.

Beef smiled, remembering building with Bdubs and fishing with Etho. So lost in his reminiscence, he didn’t hear the creeper hiss behind him until it was too late. He turned around, hands going up to create a useless shield only for his forced-upon magic to lash out in his panic. The purple-blue light hit the plant-like mob right as it exploded, the force of the explosion pushing the creature and the disguised watcher apart. Dazed, Beef laid on the sand for a few moments before hearing a worried exclamation. Etho suddenly popped in Beed’s vision and helped him sit up. Beef blinked at the ground, regaining his bearings slowly but surely as the ringing in his ears receded after a few minutes.

“You alright there Beefers?” Etho asked, helping the minimally injured hermit to his feet. Beef nodded after letting out a shaky breath. Etho seemed to let out a quiet sigh of relief before looking inside the pockets of his vest for something. Finally, he seemed to find what he was searching for and gave it to Beef. It was a health potion. Beef gladly downed the magic-infused drink, shivering slightly as the potion started knitting together the small cuts he’d gotten by dragging through the sand as he was pushed back.

“Hey, uh, guys?” Bdubs’ uncertain voice called out, gaining Etho and Beef’s attention. Once he’d gotten both hermits to look his way, he gestured to a still form on the ground.

“I think it’s still alive.”

——————————

During the next few weeks the trio took care of the injured creeper. Etho worked on cybernetics for the green mob, while Bdubs and Beef worked on rearranging the plants making up said creature. The creeper became more and more humanoid as the less redstone inclined members of the nHo watered the plants in certain directions. Once they finished changing the creeper’s form, Etho was able to add the various prosthetics. Some parts of the green mob had been too damaged to grow into the right shapes and thus an artificial arm and eye were put in to fix the issue.

The only thing left to do was to wait until the creature woke up. Beef anxiously glanced at the plant mob, seeing the lack of a rise or fall of its green chest. He looked away from the bed it was laid in, his watch over the creature mostly guilt-driven. While at first he hadn’t cared that the creeper was hurt, Etho and Bdubs had been so very adamant about helping the fallen mob. In time, as Beef watched the others care for the creeper, he started to feel a sense of regret. The guilt started moving him to the point where he could feel a prickle of guilt every time he helped the others care for the creature.

It was his fault that they had to help it after all. He curled up on his seat, arms around his knees as he ducked his head onto them. Small tears fell from his eyes, dripping down onto his pants. He kept himself quiet, aware of Etho and Bdubs going about their usual chores. He’d voluntarily taken the post of guarding the creeper.

He startled when he heard a confused hiss coming from the bed. He snapped his head up, looking to the previously unconscious creeper. It was staring at him. Beef quickly wiped his eyes, getting up from his chair and calling out to Etho and Bdubs. The creeper tilted its head before seeming to realize something was off. It looked down at its new hands and hissed again before flailing in panic. The cybernetic arm imbedded itself into a wall.

Domesticating a creeper might be harder than the nHo first thought.

——————————

They’d called the creeper Doc after seeing the various complicated redstone contraptions he’d built after being taught redstone by Etho. Doc kept surprising them over and over until being given the moniker of mad scientist by Bdubs. After a while, they just started to call the creeper ‘Doc’ until it just stuck.

Beef watched as Doc built up another machine, letting out an impressed whistle. In his time watching worlds, he hadn’t really seen many machines like the one Doc was building. They’d found a creeper genius.

“Slow down there Doc! You’ll burn yourself out!” Beef called out to him, the creeper perking up at his voice. Doc’s only reply was a cheeky grin as he continued working on his contraption despite Beef’s warning. Beef sighed at Doc’s stubbornness, letting out a little chuckle at this new rebellious streak Doc had gotten. The creeper was steadfast and rarely ever budged in his opinions. Beef headed back towards the barracks of the nHo’s camp. He crossed Bdubs, pausing for a second as he noticed something strange.

“Got a new accessory there?” He asked, gesturing to the vine around the shorter man’s wrist. Bdubs blinked, looking down to his hand and his blank expression turned puzzled.

“Oh, uh, didn’t notice it got there” he admitted. His hand dropped without Bdubs taking the vine off his limb. Beef frowned, looking at the vine again. There was something strange about it, but he wasn’t quite sure what it was. He shrugged to himself, figuring it was nothing and watching as Bdubs walked away. Beef turned, not noticing the vine wrapped around his own ankle.

————————-

It wasn’t until it was too late that Beef noticed that the vines growing on Bdubs and Etho were a permanent fixture. Doc hadn’t been affected by the strange plant growth which was probably why he’d been spared. Beef’s mind had grown strangely numb these past few weeks as he worked on different builds for the nHo. He only realized this when he’d almost let his disguise fall in front of the others.

The near revelation of his true form snapped him wide awake. With a keen eye, he surveilled the behaviour of the human members of their group. They were sluggish, with their speech slurred and a distant look in their eyes. Beef tried to talk to them only for him to be ignored by the ones he considered friends. Whenever he tried to take the vines off of them, he was hastily and harshly pushed away. Beef decided to stay away after a few such incidents, the angered expressions directed at him being too much for him to bare for too long.

Beef looked to the vines growing on his arm, glaring at them. Every time he’d tried to rip the plant life off of him, he’d keeled over in pain. The last attempt had almost made him pass out. He wasn’t exactly excited to try that again.

Even against his magic the vines didn’t wilt or tear away. Over several nights and under the cover of darkness he’d stolen away from the barracks where the others were all asleep. He’d walked out into the forest to a clearing only he knew about and sat on an old stone. There, he would try to use his magic to get rid of the vines. Unfortunately, the magic simply glanced off the jungle-native plant life, unable to make the offending greenery disappear. Beef had to find some way to get these vines to leave, a feeling of dread pressing him to urgency. The ones were affecting the nHo more and more each day. He had to stop this plight, whatever it took.

Was it any wonder he failed?

—————————

Before the watcher was an endstone island, framed by the vast darkness of the void. Frozen, he watched as the albino ninja and the short builder stepped forward, swaying in the non-existent wind. The vines had overtaken everything human within them and now Beef knew why. He could only watch as they approached the puppeteer.

Perched on the island’s edge was a dark winged figure, a visor over their face clearly marked with the Watching Eye. Lines and dots reminiscent of a nether portal stood out on the stark bleached surface of the mask, boring into Beef’s being. Another Watcher.

Etho and Bdubs walked closer and closer to the figure, bringing Beef out of his daze. His friends weren’t in their right minds. Quickly, he ran up to them and took them by the arms, pulling them back from the threatening figure. The other watcher seemed to frown. Spreading out dark purple wings, they glided down to stand in front of the small group with a staff materializing in their hands. Tipped with sharpened obsidian, the polearm was brought to Beef’s neck. The blade dug into the soft flesh, drawing blood as a light purple liquid started to slowly drip down.

“Another one of us, hm? What are you doing, keeping me from the targets I seek?” The watcher asked, tilting their head. Beef gulped, the blade digging in a little more with slight shift of flesh.

“I’m on a mission to their world. What do you think you’re doing?” He retorted, keeping a firm grip on the mindless humans. The other watcher tsked, bringing the spear’s tip away from Beef’s neck.

“I’ve been assigned to bring these runaways back to their world. They’ve been… rather missed, I suppose” a sharp grin formed on the inhuman entities face. Beef narrowed his eyes, taking a step back and bringing the two nHo members with him. He didn’t trust this. Not one bit.

“And which world is that?” Beef cautiously asked, tensing as the otherworldly being took a step forwards. He took another step back, attempting to gain distance from the other watcher.

“Some destroyed world. I’m here to clean up a few loose ends is all.”

Beef froze, knuckles going white as the grip on his friends increased tenfold. Emotions clashed inside of him, bubbling to the surface as he snarled at the watcher. His eyes glowed as wisps of magic escaped him, his form changing as his disguise melted away.

“You’re not taking them.” The newly shifted Beef growled, reverberations in his voice when before there were none. The other watcher harrumphed, bringing their spear up.

“Then let’s dance”

——————————

He didn’t know how long he’d been fighting the other watcher. It could’ve been hours. Maybe it had been eons. Either way, time passed. Few moments stood out in Beef’s battle-hardened mind. A particularly nasty cut. Landing a good hit. Losing Bdubs to the void… Yet Beef persevered. If not for himself then for the dazed albino human sitting in the middle of the destroyed end island. He had to save at least one of them.

He didn’t realize he’d landed a killing blow until the other watcher was laid crumpled on the floor before him. His ragged breathing met his ears as the survival mindset started slipping away. Tense, he looked around for Etho. The human was lying unconscious near what was once a choruswith barely any scratches or injuries on him. Beef flapped his large wings, propelling himself towards the sleeping ninja. With shaky hands, he checked Etho’s pulse. For a few seconds, dread descended upon Beef as he felt nothing until, weakly, the beat of life pushed back upon the watcher’s fingers. He let out a rough sigh of relief, crumbling next to the albino. He laid there for a few minutes, simply regaining his breath.

After a while, Beef got up. He examined the broken endstone island, the craters of magic and impact the signs of a battle fought between otherworldly beings. He turned back to Etho. Crouching for a second, he picked up his unconscious friend in a bridal carry. With a beat of his star-speckled wings he was airborn.

Beef flew through the void, the concept of time long forgotten. Etho barely stirred in his arms. The watcher looked around for any sign of a main end island, any clue towards an exit portal. It seemed like an eternity when he finally caught a trail. A small bedrock-encased portal floated above a small section of end islands, an innocuous blip against the background of the void. Beating his wings once more, Beef became a speeding bullet towards the portal. He reached out a hand and-

The pair landed on the other side, tumbling onto the stiff endstone. Beef let out a gasp, coughing as he curled around his battered chest. Purple blood dripped onto the yellowish island as Beef struggled to regain his breath. Finally, he sat up. His eyes landed on Etho and panic filled him as he noticed how close the human was from the edge. The watcher shakily stood, approaching his friend in a stumbling sprint to get him away from the yawning darkness. He picked Etho up once more and sighed in relief as he got his friend further away from the yawning abyss that was the void. He walked towards the middle of the main end island, the bedrock fountain crowned by a single torch. Before stepping into the exit portal however, he paused.

Willing his less than human features away, Beef’s purple eyes returned to their usual dark blue. His great dark wings disappeared into wisps of smoke, like stars dying out as space itself collapsed. The blue-purple tint of his skin receded into his pores, the void-like colour being replaced by a tan more customary to a human. Beef looked normal again. He huffed to himself. Had he ever been normal in the first place?

The disguised watcher looked down at the portal resting in the fountain’s basin. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and hopped in.

——————————-

Apparently, it had been more than a year since a third of the nHo had disappeared. For Bdubs, it had been a shorter disappearance, as it seemed like he’d fallen from the sky several times in the 6th world before landing in the pool of another hermit. While he’d never met Keralis, Beef was more than grateful to him for helping the nHo member who he’d thought had been lost forever. It was a relief to see him well, although with a few oddities…

Both Bdubs and Etho didn’t remember their time in the end. This made Beef relieved, yet guilty. It was better this way, that the two didn’t remember his vicious fight with the other watcher, and yet they’d still gotten their memories taken. How much was gone? How many of the good times with the nHo had been snatched away by the vine-based puppeteer? Maybe that’s why they didn’t rejoin to make the nHo again, even with Doc’s requests. It was better this way. Or so Beef hoped. He’d also feigned not remembering what happened, corroborating his stories with the other nHo’s. It pained him to see the creeper so saddened by this ‘amnesia’, but it had to be done. Now that this event was over, he had a mission to accomplish.

However… motivation to finish that mission was at an all time low. The fight with the other watcher had drained him and he didn’t particularly want to fight another winged and void-touched being… So instead he indulged himself. He built his hacienda and surrounded himself in the luxury that he’d craved before becoming a watcher. He’d made everything comfortable, safe, relaxing… Then he’d interacted with a certain hermit. The one going by the name of Joe Hills. Sure, he’d seen him around and had even been his neighbour in the first hermitcraft world he’d been a part in, but this was different. He’d been close to him, had actually talked to him and had looked into those purple eyes… and now Beef had a hunch. He distracted himself with the diamond challenge and his cloning machine to forget the impending realization. He didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to…

He didn’t want to do this. He needed- He wanted- He wanted a lot of things. More importantly, he needed a break. He didn’t tell the others why he’d moved away to a remote island. His reasons for building a neon-lit city from the ground up. After all, it wouldn’t do for them to know what he was here to do. He laughed bitterly to himself from the roof of one of his buildings, legs hanging over the edge as he watched night fall over the island. It was better if he stayed away.

He knew who the escapee was.

Beef wasn’t going to give the purple-eyed hermit over to the watchers.

In fact, he’d rather join the runaway than stop him.


End file.
